CHATHAM, Mass. — A pair of friends fishing off the southeast Cape near Monomoy Island on Saturday found themselves coming to the aid of a fellow boater after his vessel capsized in large swells miles from shore.
“We were lucky that we were able to identify him and able to get there,” said Nick Whitbeck, owner of Island X Lures on Nantucket.
Whitbeck was fishing with friend Joe Tormay when Tormay spotted a bump in the water about a half-mile from their location. At first, he thought it might be a dead whale.
Then he saw movement.
“I could see sort of a hand waving,” Tormay told Boston 25 News. “That’s obviously when we realized it was an overturned boat.”
With ocean temperatures around 55° Fahrenheit and sunset approaching, the pair didn’t waste any time. They immediately began heading in the direction of the capsized boat. As they got closer, they used their phones to zoom in for a better visual of what was ahead and how many people might need help.
“You could see his hands up, using his hat, desperately trying to get anyone’s attention,” Whitbeck said.
The man was alone and without a life jacket. He later told Whitbeck and Tormay his boat had capsized about an hour earlier and that other boats had not seen his waves for help.
“He was definitely in shock, and he was very thankful,” Tormay said. “He was by himself, luckily.”
The man was an experienced boater, they said.
“I’d say he knew where he was going and he knew what he was doing,” Tormay said. “But unfortunately, the way the seas are, you might think you’re fine and then all of a sudden, a wave catches you…. In a split second, that boat fills with water and you’re flipped and in the water.”
Tormay, who spent four years in the U.S. Coast Guard, helped Whitbeck navigate close enough to the overturned boat to safely toss the man a life jacket and ultimately helped get him to safety. The pair also called the Coast Guard, who arrived to assist a short time later.
The man was uninjured and taken safely back to shore. Tormay and Whitbeck say his boat was also able to be towed back to land, where plans were to upright it, pump out the water, and make repairs.
“It’s good news,” Tormay said. “With all the political stuff out there and all the bad news, it’s nice to have some happy endings.”
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